Pakcik keje gomen

I am a government servant and I do take it as a personal attack when people make generalisations about the negative trademarks of orang gomen. Heck, I put in extra hours on daily basis, I sometimes have to go in at weekends, I frequently answer calls at odd hours like 3 in the morning and even when I am on holidays, I don't do teabreaks and my lunchbreaks normally consist of packed food and mountains of paperwork in front of the PC. All these without a single cent extra in pay.

And I am not alone. My colleagues, my staff (ok, my staff do get paid for overtimes but still not that much) and most of the doctors and nurses also work like dogs around the clock to provide decent services with the limited resources that we have. So yeah, I think it is only fair that I get mad when people say it to my face that government servants are lazy, inefficient, unhelpful, rude or plain stupid. If you have the nerve to piss me off, you should have the guts to face my wrath then... it's only fair right?

But anyway...the harsh generalisations were blaringly playing in my ears on wednesday when I stepped into the administration wing of the hospital to make arrangements for my upcoming Surabaya trip. I submitted my application quite a few weeks ago and only received the approval from the high and mighty on tuesday. So, apart from having to prepare the poster that I am supposed to present at the conference rushingly, I also had to make all the arrangements for the trip myself last-minutely. The first stop was where my attempts to get the money I need to pay for my conference fee and everything else were crushed at the front counter..

Anon 1 : Tak boleh ni...kena ada surat approval daripada VC
Me : Ni dah ada surat approval daripada HR, surat daripada VC nak dapat daripada mana?
Anon 1 : Tak boleh, kena ada surat VC jugak.. kena apply through system (and nobody told me that I have to do this when I first handed in my application!)
Me : Tapi saya nak pegi minggu depan dah ni..macamana ya?
Anon 1 : Kena tunggu jugak la... dah ada surat VC baru datang sini...

That person refused my forms at point blank. Mind you, the budget was already approved by the highest person in command for the hospital and here she was, wouldn't move an inch without the VC letter!

Anyway, after a few fruitless hours of trying to apply for the approval through the internet (the system just wouldn't let me do it and kept giving me error messages) and numerous phonecalls to Bangi, I was told that I DO NOT need approval letter from the VC...dang! It was supposed to be a good news but it got me stuck in between since there were no official letters from Bangi and that counter makcik definitely wouldn't entertain me without the letter. So, after a few more minutes spent coaxing (in a very polite manner!) the Bangi people to help me sort out the mess with our HR and Finance, I move on to the next task...to get my flight tickets.

Me : Can I see Encik Kh*******?
Anon 2 : Dia tak ada..kenapa?
Me : Saya nak hantar borang permohonan kapalterbang
Anon 2 : Letak kat sini
Me : Saya nak pergi minggu depan, agak2 sempat tak? ( I asked just to be polite ok, I NEED it by next week!)
Anon 2: Dah tau nak pegi next week, kenapa baru apply sekarang? Tak sempat ni!

Came the reply with her macam bagus face..

I was really at boiling point when I left that office. I knew En Kh******* personally and I was soooooo tempted to call him up and complain about that makcik's attitude. But I didn't want anymore headaches so I walked back to my office. No money, no tickets... frustrated, detached.

Yup, SOME orang gomen ARE apparently rude, unhelpful and stupid!

Fast forward 24 hours.

Early in the morning today, the ever so pleasant Encik Kh******* called me up to inform that he has received my form and that he would process it rightaway. He called a few times again later for extra information from me and by midday, voila! my tickets were ready!

In between, a very helpful Encik Iz*** from HR called, informing me that he has discussed the new payment procedure with Bangi people and in turn, would send a letter to Finance to inform them of the change. By afternoon, I received another call, this time from Puan Siti R****** from Finance saying that she was processing my form and asked me to meet her at her office and to bring along another supporting document. I did straightaway. She actually chase up two of her higher offficers to sign my cheque there and then while I was waiting and within 10 minutes, the cheque was in my hands! It was a huge (and pleasant) surprise for me considering that it took them almost 1 month to come out with a cheque the last time I had to deal with them!

So... my faith in my fellow gomen officers is restored today. Yeah... there are a few bad apples but negative generalisations are hugely unfair for those who'd go out of their way to get things done in timely manner. The likes of En Kh*******, Encik Iz*** and Puan Siti R***** are in abundance out there so please do not be nasty to them by making biased generalisations ok... Anyway, maybe when I am back from Surabaya, I will give them a call and ask them to give their counter staff some smackin' on the heads and to ask them to start learning good manners from their bosses. Maybe...*evil grin*

__________________________________________

I am in melancholic mood tonight so here is one from yesteryear...



Such a sweet song isn't it?